Mom’s appetite is thankfully coming back, so we are weaving in lighter favorites to tempt her to eat a bit more each day.
Tonight we had one of her signature dishes: cauliflower cheese. Her portion was light on butter and cheese. Accompanied by toasted focaccia.
The rest of us had her regular version of cauliflower cheese, plus chicken liver crostini on garlic bread. I’ve loved chicken liver since childhood days when my dad would fry up a batch as a special snack on days he went to the market, as soon as he got back, before he started cleaning and organizing his purchases (on fish market days it was fried prawns, and both were occasionally wrapped in bacon which took them completely over the top 
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I also cooked gizzards for the first time ever – sis enjoys them, but it was not something our family ever ate, she learned to eat it at a friends’ house. Made those with some masala blend I made up as I went along: she hasn’t complained yet so hopefully it turned out okay.
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How did I FORGET that I made PAKODAS today?
Monsoon is in full swing, which calls for hot tea and fried snacks! But - mom’s tummy is still recovering, so I lightened up the batter and swapped deep frying for the appe pan (like an aebleskiver or takoyaki pan, but the South Indian version). Mom ate 4, so that was a resounding success.
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